Diamond Brands Shun Traditional Holiday Ads

RAPAPORT... Diamond advertising has well and truly departed from
traditional styles, this year’s holiday commercials suggest. Gone are the days
of the De Beers campaigns targeting men buying a diamond for his fiancée.

The major retailers have taken a much more experimental
approach, with Tiffany & Co. creating an eccentric video that features
actress Zoë Kravitz, while Signet Jewelers’ brands have focused on experiences
and diverse relationships.

Tiffany’s new Alice in Wonderland-themed
campaign is generating positive buzz among viewers on YouTube. In the video, Kravitz
appears as a Tiffany salesperson drawn from her shift in the store into a
quirky world containing an underground Tiffany workshop. It features cameos
from models Naomi Campbell, Xiao Wen Ju, Karen Elson and Maye Musk, and showcases
the brand’s Paper Flowers and Tiffany True collections, as well as established
lines such as Tiffany Keys.

YouTube users primarily responded positively to the video — which
racked up nearly 8 million views — calling it “brilliant” and “super
impressive.”

“Yaaaaaasssssssssssssss!” added Johanna Kanae, another user. “To
everything. This commercial is the stuff!”

Instagram users agreed, commending the company on the “absolute
treat” the video was, and for its reinvention, saying it was “an entire new
Tiffany’s, but the same.”

Facebook users, however, had mixed feedback for the luxury brand’s
new offerings. The same video received 138,000 views on that social media
outlet, with generally positive commentary. However, users weren’t too sure about the
company’s holiday window video, which features a Tiffany robot showing off some
breakdancing moves.

Signet subsidiary Kay Jewelers has put out four ads
that take a more modern approach to relationships. One depicts a man asking
permission to marry the woman he loves, and only at the end is it clear that
it’s not her father he’s talking to. Another video by the brand highlights couples sharing
experiences such as road trips and visits to the movies. View the Kay videos here.

Jared, another Signet chain, spotlights the many different
types of relationships in which love flourishes in today’s diverse society. Its
campaign, “Dare to Be Devoted,” zooms in on same-sex couples, biracial
relationships and women proposing to men.

Meanwhile, De Beers stuck with its Forevermark campaign from
last year, and the Tribute collection focused on female self-purchasing. The
campaign began November 5 and will appear on ABC, NBC and CBS television, as
well as in CBS’s and Fox’s NFL football coverage each Sunday in December, De
Beers said.